The shots are said to have been fired when a larger group of protesters were in the street celebrating the defeat. Mehran Samak is said to have been shot while sitting in his car and honking as part of the demonstration, writes the BBC. The American human rights group Center for Human Rights in Iran and Oslo-based Iran Human Rights report that it was Iranian security forces who shot and killed the man. Iranian authorities have not commented on the incident. Although the national team supported the protests in their home country when the players refused to sing the national anthem before the first match, the World Cup exit is seen as a symbolic loss for the regime. Photo: Instagram Player shared photo The murder happened in Bandar Anzali in northern Iran. Midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi, who played in the USA match and is from Bandar Anzali, writes on Instagram that he knew Samak. The footballer shared a photo of the two together at a youth team, writes The Guardian. The image now appears to have been removed. “After yesterday’s bitter loss, the news of your passing set my heart on fire,” writes Ezatolahi. “One day the masks will fall, the truth will be revealed.” “This is not what our youth deserve. This is not what our nation deserves,” he added, according to The Guardian. Out of the WC The game was played on Tuesday evening Norwegian time, and Iran lost 0–1 to the USA. Thus, Iran quit the World Cup, while the USA is ready for the quarter-finals against the Netherlands. USA’s Brenden Aaronson consoles Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi after Iran’s exit from the World Cup. Photo: Hassan Ammar / AP The match was played with a tense political situation as a backdrop. The regime in Iran, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is facing some of the biggest protests in the country since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. For over two months, thousands of protesters have protested and demanded change after 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini ( 22) died in the custody of the morality police. He had been arrested because she had not covered her hair well enough. Iran’s security forces have killed at least 448 people during the protests, including 60 children under the age of 18 and 29 women, according to Iran Human Rights. After the loss to the USA, the security police are said to have fired at demonstrators in several cities, writes Iran International. Just before the World Cup match, the American national team had published a picture on social media showing the Iranian flag without the symbol of the Islamic Republic. US communications manager Neil Buethe told news that it was done in solidarity with the Iranian women. The Americans later deleted the photo from Twitter and Instagram, while Iran’s state news agency Tasnim called for the US to be kicked out of the World Cup. At the press conference before the fateful match, Leeds player Tyler Adams heard it when he mispronounced Iran, according to an Iranian reporter. – You say you support the Iranian people, but you pronounce our name wrong. It includes Iran, not “Airan”. Let’s get this straight once and for all.
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Celebrated Iran’s World Cup loss, was shot and killed – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
